In accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of October 27, 1960, the development of the military air defense system 9K33 "Wasp" (earlier called "Ellipsoid") began. For the first time, the task was to develop an autonomous complex with the placement on one self-propelled floating chassis (combat vehicle) of both all combat assets, including radar stations and a launcher with missiles, as well as communications, navigation and topography, control, as well as power supplies.
The brilliant successes achieved in our country in the late fifties in the field of creation (mainly under the leadership of V. A. Grachev) of wheeled all-terrain vehicles determined the choice as a prototype of the chassis for the "Osa" air defense system of one of the samples of amphibious armored personnel carriers developed for motorized rifle units by several design bureaus on a competitive basis in the late fifties - early sixties.
Already in January 1961, the design bureau of the ZiL plant refused to further participate in the work on the Osa air defense missile system, since the carrying capacity of the ZiL-153 chassis developed by him - 1, 8 tons was clearly insufficient to accommodate launchers with missiles and systems of the complex. For the same reason, the winner of the armored personnel carrier competition, the BTR-60P of the Gorky Automobile Plant, did not come up. Over the next several years, work was carried out in relation to the Object 1040 wheeled chassis, created on the basis of an experimental Object 1015 armored personnel carrier developed by the designers of the Kutaisi Automobile Plant (KAZ) of the Economic Council of the Georgian SSR in collaboration with specialists from the Military Academy of Armored Forces.
Since, according to the project, the armored personnel carrier of the Kutaisi plant had a carrying capacity of only 3.5 tons, in order to accommodate the complex with a mass of at least 4, 3 tons on it, it was decided to exclude machine-gun armament and switch to the use of a light diesel engine with a capacity of 180 hp. instead of the 220 hp similar engine used on the prototype. The wheel chassis of the Mytishchi plant MMZ-560 was also considered, but its use was associated with an unacceptable increase in the mass of the complex to 19 tons.
In 1966, the department of the chief designer of the Bryansk Automobile Plant, together with the Research Electromechanical Institute (NIEMI, Moscow), began to create a family of special floating chassis BAZ-5937, -5938 and 5939 for the Osa anti-aircraft missile system, equipped with a water cannon, which allowed them to move on water, a powerful propulsion diesel engine, navigation, topographic location, life support, communication and power supply of the complex (from the gas turbine unit and from the power take-off generator of the propulsion engine). In 1971, their mass production began, and the complex itself was put into service. The production of the BAZ-5937 and BAZ-5939 chassis continued until 1990. "Wasp" was supplied to 25 countries of the world, and in the Armed Forces of Russia it is used to this day.
Models "5937" and "5939" with 6x6 wheel arrangement have a waterproof steel case, in the bow of which there is a control cabin, in the middle - the cargo compartment, and in the stern - the engine compartment. The required speed afloat is maintained by two water-jet propellers. The almost uniform arrangement of the axles along the length of the machine increased the geometric cross-country ability and gave an optimal distribution of weight over the wheels. The wheels of the outer axles are steerable, which has reduced the turning radius and reduced the resistance to movement in it.
The car received a six-cylinder 300-horsepower diesel engine 5D20B-300B. A manual transmission transmits the power of the motor to a transfer case equipped with a built-in differential that separates the drives of the starboard and port side. Wheel suspension - independent, torsion bar on wishbones. The machine is equipped with a system for regulating the air pressure in wide-profile tires with dimensions 1200x500-508.
On the BAZ-5937, the combat crew consists of five people, on the BAZ-5939 - of two.
Analyzing the current situation, the plant's specialists came to the conclusion that amphibians can be used in areas of natural disasters, for example, floods. The BAZ-5937 turned out to be the most suitable for this.
The machine has a fairly spacious cargo platform. It freely accommodates an ambulance car, a small bus, or a car of a similar size. Self-propelled vehicles climb into the cargo compartment of the amphibian through special ramps. In addition, it is possible to transport people and various goods weighing up to 7.5 tons. A batch of such vehicles was delivered to the Estonian Rescue Service.
